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When I don’t feel like I’ve tripped and fallen into the pond, I feel like my feet are stuck in mud with writing. On the other hand, my Alpha Readers are coming back and really enthused with what’s been put out. I can’t see it of course. That’s the curse of being a writer sometimes and makes it more important to take time between writing and reading so you can gain some perspective again.

Book 2 is progressing still, but as a two pronged attack. I’m having to go back 20-40 chapters and rebuild a plotline that I had pulled, and now keeps getting better and better IMHO as I go. But it’s hard to shoehorn it into areas that don’t disrupt the flow of the story, work well with serialization and all the rest that I have going on.

The second prong had stalled with the main plot till I started realizing what a point of contention would be between the characters…. and it’s a naaaaasty one that I hope will have people cheering and angry at the same time. Ahhh ambivalence… you are so fun. As it is, the characters keep talking to me and giving me good things to transcribe for them. They seem to be getting bored with my downtime thanks to life, the universe and everything getting in the way. Oh I should include my own inability to hear them at times which leads to my Guild Wars 2 inspired brain static. Something I hope to avoid this weekend and crank hard on some new chapters.

But. We are up to 73 chapters. Can I get a “Whoa mama!” from the audience? Still aiming for that 1500-3000 sweet spot which gives a wonderful potato chip feel to the chapters. Before you know it, you eat the whole bag. Or perhaps that’s just me.

Om nom nom.

The downside is that this is causing me writing fatigue. I’m looking at it going, “Come ONNNNN!!!! Get to the finale already!” But the characters have to tell their story the way they have to. It’s foolhardy to try and make them do something they ain’t gonna. I’ll make it through, and it’s giving me ideas of what’s to come in the future.

I should note that there is now consideration on my part and agreed upon by my editor that Book 2 (Title Pending) may turn into a FOUR volume set! That’s right kids and kidettes. So much is going on, I may be unable to pack these into only three parts. If that happens, it’ll still be worth it. Trust me.

Without further ado, here are the new stats (I see it’s been a while):

Including the “Encyclopedia Akiniwazi”… formerly the Glossary

Pages 467
Words 156774

New Chapters with their new numbers:

Inserted Chapters:

22. Tugging at a Loose Thread

30. A City Robed in Black

33. Denied That Which Is Necessary

Moving on from the last end point:

66. In the Deep Places of the World

67. Ashamed Before the Crown

68. Lingering Doubts

69. Dashed Illusions

70. If Given the Choice

71. The Importance of a Name

72. At The Ragged Edge of Disaster

73. In Dark Halls, a Light Shines

We’ll give an excerpt next time. Gotta keep them special dontcha know?

BTW, in case you didn’t quite realize, The pictures I use are often clues to what kind of things I’ve been writing about in the book. Just a little extra something for when you read the book you can look back and go “ohhhhh! That’s what he was doing!”

A few weeks back I met Peter Younghusband on the Realm Makers Forum on Facebook. We had a few jolly discussions and he invited me to do a guest post for his blog. Due to a technical glitch, it posted WAY early, much to his embarrassment. Sorry Peter, It’s a cute story. So… as I like to say… SURPRISE GUEST POST!

Everything in His timing, I guess. So with that happening, here’s a link over to the guest post.

I would like to point out that he has a pile o pixels devoted to his passion for reading Christian Fiction. You can spend hours going through book reviews, author commentary on their own work and lots of other goodies for the budding bibliophile in you.

After a great meeting with my editor, I realized that I had to restore a subplot I cut out of the book. I figured it was going to end up being in book 3 instead, before I realized that its original intent was going to work. So… 5 new (old) chapters were put back in the book near the beginning. In fact, one of them is now the new first chapter.

But as for moving forward, I had gotten stuck on several points on my last chapter, and it just… blech! It wasn’t working. Too overwrought and loaded down with purple prose that was muddying even my understanding of what was going on. The good news is that now that I have worked through a serious scientific problem, I can also see that this book is living up to my hopes and has the potential to being a real awesome adventure when I discussed my plans with my editor. She was so good at just letting me vent ideas. Still not sure on a few simple points, but mmmm boy…. this ending, thanks to the solution brought back by the restored subplot got so much better.

It was a sub-plot that originated from characters from A Light Rises in a Dark World, so some favorites are returning and having an impact on what’s going on. This also will end up creating more of a tie-in to book 3 that I hoped.

I also have the timeline more squared away. Having to start writing chapters that will be inserted earlier into the book because I’m writing this chronologically forces that issue.

I’m seeing the ending far more clearly, now, and that makes me happy. But I have to start thinking of what to title this thing. Even a working title would be good.

Stats

Pages

407

Words

135970

As you can see, a significant jump in word count too.

New (Restored chapters and locations)

1. The Hunt

3. A Desire For Home

5. Confession & Revelation

7. An Interrupted Meal

8. Breaking Bread With New Friends

And the new chapters since last with their new position:

57: Rewards, Conundrums & Disappointments

58: The Drowned Forest

59: The Valley That Drives Away Evil With Light

60: Temple To An Unknown God

61: The Weight of Sin

I guess it has been a while since I’ve given you a chapter update. So as a mea culpa and désolé, here’s an excerpt from the new opening chapter

The Hunt

The beast had come across the ice that winter. Tracks left in the snowpack frozen by spray from a storm haunted Aske’s mind. The prints were startling along the beach of Neinnvanbjarg as it had wandered along for a short while, looking for evidence of food, found it, then went into the trees and vanished. Perhaps the beast would just pass on to another island looking for better fare, but that was not to be. A week later, an team of oxen were killed. Their kusk escaped with his life by the grace of God. Something needed to be done now for this beast was there to feast.

Early March had created a world without horizon. For days on end, the air was warm and thick with fog. Heavy coats were laid aside, and most timberjacks went about with only light oilskins normally for rain over their autumn clothing. Aske and his men slogged through the mud and wet snow of the spring melt. Near the beaches the crunch and hiss of ice shoves were a disquieting din as the winds and waves pushed floes and bergs all the way to the treeline. Sometimes the piles reached over forty feet high. But among the trees the sound of dripping water and sighing boughs was all that could be heard. The birds refused to sing, not even the chickadees or cardinals, for they knew a killer lurked among the pillars of nature’s cathedral. The beast made it easy to follow by dragging the dead oxen back to its cave in the rotted limestone cliffs that made the northeastern end of the island. Ten of them came with Aske while the rest protected the woodyard and the logging camp. The track may have been there, but it might be still on the prowl. None the less, Aske’s knowledge of nature told him to expect a full it inside.

The plan was simple. They would go in as many men abreast as possible and when they came across across their quarry, pin it in place with the first rank of spears, then the second rank would stab the trapped creature till it stopped moving. The hide might be ruined, but this was not about another fur, this was about survival. Of all the choices for hunting the beast, this was the safest and fastest.

The cave was a small alcove set back a few dozen yards from the beach and elevated in the rock about the height of a man with talus of rotted rock scattered at its base. The smell of feces came strong on the stirring breeze outside the mouth of the lair. A deer’s ribcage poked out obscenely from the melting snow telling that the oxen were not this beast’s first kill. Even in the full light of the foggy day, the shadows inside were deep enough that the men could not see more than a few feet into the short cave.

Aske took the middle of the first rank, was flanked by his two strongest men, and began entering the dark. The cave was not too deep, maybe a hundred feet or less, but it took a bend to the left, which concealed the deeper chamber of the cave. Behind him, a rank of men held torches high. The flames sizzled in the spiderwebs and burned the rock lice. Unstable slabs of loose rock clunked under their feet and the stink was overwhelming. The torches were now their only light. Ahead, soft breathing could be heard. Would they be so fortunate as to catch their prey still sleeping?

I wasn’t sure what would be the better ending point. A conversation with my protagonists with a bunch of big revelations, or an interrogation by my villain. I like my clean cliffhangers that both answer and ask questions. So, that means the first draft of Volume 4 and 5… aka the first two parts of Book 2 I think are done.

What changed my mind? What I wrote kinda sets up a small question that felt better to resolve for that great clean break rather than let carry over and start the last volume on the wrong foot.

I guess it’s my years of RPG experience that made this kind of thinking something I’m sensitive to. I always liked stopping the game as a new event or surprise came up. The players always wanted to play it out right then, but I wouldn’t do it because the act of doing so had them talking about it all week long. I kinda saw it as my way of doing the TV season ending trick but for every week. Or what the old Dr. Who used to do for every story arc. You’d get 3-4 show stories, with cliffhangers on every episode till the end. Kept me coming back for more, that’s for sure. So I’m doing the same thing here.

But for those fretting about having to wait for months for resolution, here’s the new release plans from now on:

I will release Volume 4 at the same time as I release the print versions of all of Book 2. That way, you want the whole story at once, there it is… in print. After that, every 2-4 months, I will release the next Volume. If I time it right, you will get a new book every year or more, and a new volume every 2-4 months, depending on if I can keep up.

That’s the plan going forward. BTW, book 3 is as I’ve said before 60% written. Why? See previous posts. 😉 Go on, you know you want to check out back posts. XcD But also, the events in book 2 require me to add more content to help the two books blend better.

Why the new split? Because I realize that the “Encyclopedia Akiniwazi” is a significant chunk of the length, so this way you know the story. Right now, Book 2 is exceeding the length of book 1 in about every respect, and I still have about 25-30% left to go. That’s about 30 more chapters I’m estimating. Now 57 pages of encyclopedia is a lot to ask, and every book it grows, but over Thanksgiving I got to visit with a family who is reading the book right now, and they have a bookmark at the glossary. They use and enjoy it. Their sons have now taken to insulting each other with some of the names. Funny stuff to hear them call each other “snotnose” (Hrodinefr) or “chicken fart” (Haensafretr). They’re young, so it’s extra funny and beats a lot of names they could call each other.

Chapters

50. In Which Occult Knowledge is Revealed

51. A Fool No Longer

On one side note, I may be having some difficulty this month in productivity due to some complications with life. I still have a specific goal in mind, but I’m worried I will not be able to meet it. We’ll see.

So far it’s been a wild week for writing. Six chapters in 6 days including one that freaked me out and made me go “Well, this ain’t for kids anymore. Nope nope nope!” Then it’s never been my intent to write YA fiction, but for you hardy, sturdy fangirls and boys of fantasy and good storytelling. Huzzah!

I think as a “stay-cation” this has turned out far better than expected. I have another week like this coming up, so I will be getting busy with outlining the final chapters.

Being the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning here, soup bubbling away on the stove for my post holiday work week and stomach bracing for the onslaught tomorrow in carb laden goodness, (My pancreas curses me, but I think eventual forgiveness will come) I thought I’d bow to peer pressure and say thank you. To all of you who have bought my book, lent your support and follow this blog, I am grateful.

This is I guess a contrast to the degree of ingratitude I see in the world and how it makes people terminally unhappy to the point in which they desire nothing more than sharing their misery. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t always succeed, but generally no. It is not my desire to be the monster I sometimes pretend to be in attempts of self depricating humor or currying compliments. (yes, we guys and writers do it too from time to time. Human weakness, sue me.) But in an effort to start the ball rolling in your own reminiscence, here’s what I have to be thankful for.

I am grateful to my alpha readers who have been helping me in my writing, giving me honest critiques and picking me up when the bull throws me and dances on my head for a day or twenty

I am grateful for my job, despite all it’s myriad foibles that drive me crazy. It keeps me focused and desiring to keep writing if not from a suffering point of view, but from a financial desire PoV.

I am grateful for my health as it is. I know it is far better than what it could be if I had not started paying attention to it two years back, and although the improvement is slow, I am still glad for what I have.

I am grateful for my friends, the couple I have IRL and the dozens I have online and in my gaming guilds of the Seraphim and Angels of Eternal Destiny. To that end, I am grateful to have known my buddy on the other side of the world in Guild Wars 2, Flowerypants who passed away this year. He helped me to realize how fortunate I was for both my life as well as the chance to share deep things around my book in a way I will be forever remembering him.

I am thankful my sister and her family survived Hurricane Harvey and are on their way to full recovery. Despite all the material loss they suffered (see almost everything) they were all safe, including their cats. It has been such a warm feeling to see the outpouring of family and friends to pull together and help them in this terrible crisis too. I mean just staggering.

I am grateful, most of all, for my salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ. The gifts that he has given me from the night I chose to follow Him, back in 1997. Well surprise surprise. It’s been 20 years since I became born again! I did not realize that till now. Now that is an odyssey down memory lane.

There are so many more things for me to be thankful for in private, and I hope that most of all I keep remembering to be grateful for them throughout the year, and not just on one day, which when things are going sour is very hard, but the most important time to do it.

So that’s how I feel right now.

Thanks.

Now, as for what’s been going on with the book.

Pages

339

Words

110739

I’m still suspecting that this book will end up over 150k words, 4-500 pages, and I may just have reached the end of my middle build, or will be in a chapter or two. Not quite sure yet. I thought I did, and felt I had a good denouement for what would have been Volume 5 of the series, but now, I am not so sure if I should finish this part of the adventure before considering it such. Meh, we’ll see.

And the new chapters…

44. Among the Wolves

45. A Dangerous Trade

46. Twelve Fingers

47. Sacrifices

48. Reforging the Iron

49. Hope From Afar

I hope these tantalizing little tidbits are enjoyable for you. I kinda like dropping the teasers and keeping you in the know as to what the progress looks like. These have been incredibly intense chapters for me to write, and I’ve been waiting literally months to finally get to this point. And now that I’m there, I’m taking the deep breath before the plunge, as it were.

Also, I’ve started working on a new map. Much like what you can find in the first book, you will be able to track a goodly portion of the adventure’s trek through the wilds. Partially because I think you will enjoy it, but also because I need it to keep my understanding in place to the directions and locations our heroes are visiting.

No teaser draft this time though. I do that too much and it won’t be special anymore. 😉 You understand. We’ll see what happens.

So, I’m doing a speed round of writing. I got a few chapters plotted out, and they should be very exciting and fly by. Secondly, I am taking another vacation before Thanksgiving here in the US, so I hope that by the end of the week, I could maybe… MAYBE have reached the end or nearly the end of the middle build of my book… aka Volume 5. Uh huh… that’s right… Volume 5 of the series. It all depends on if I can keep the rhythm going. I want to get a couple more big shockers in to the mix, but I just pulled the triggers on some of Chekov’s Guns I had laying around too. I am guessing on 10 chapters more and that would be my ideal to complete in 7 days, minus the time spent on Thanksgiving. Mmmmmmm… turkey. I fully plan to carb cheat the hell out of that day too. So afterwards, I’ll have to be very good about getting myself back into ketosis. Gonna hurt, but soooooo worth it.

So here’s the next question. You guys interested in hearing anything else rather than what you’re getting? Suggestions for posts/articles… whatever?

Much like how I started writing “A Light Rises in a Dark World”, Book 2 is now being written during a fast. I have sworn off gaming for the next month and a half to focus exclusively on book 2. There is a good chance I’m over half done, and if I can keep up this pace of a chapter every writing day (which is on average 3.5 days a week, plus a week’s vacation this and next month), and an output between 1500-3000 words, I will be done before Christmas. It’s getting thrilling, let me tell you that, despite being a lot bigger and harder to produce, it’s been worth it.

What’s also been thrilling is seeing how book 3 which now I’d call 60% written, thanks to how it came into being the first time is going to be much stronger thanks to all of what I learned about my own setting. The mystery and mystique of the setting has grown. The complications and politics have really taken on vast new dimensions and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

The last month of writing has been a real struggle, even after a month and a half writer’s block. I’m so happy to be moving forward and listening to the story the characters have to tell me, which helps when you start trusting your creations. But I’m past it now, and hopefully nothing but smooth sailing to come.

To help myself when I’ve been feeling stuck I’ve been going to other comfort writers and listening to classic literature on my phone. “Around the World in 80 Days,” “The Count of Monte Cristo”, I tried to get into the “Gulag Archepelago”, but nope… not there yet. I’ve also been looking at good fantasy… aka seeing how JRR did things in “The Hobbit”, because some of the concepts bear some similarity of a travel adventure. I also like to refer to “On Basilisk Station” by David Weber, because I really enjoy how he handles larger casts and for the most part has an excellent narrative style. So the two have taught me a few things here and there. Mostly though I want to stick to reading books that are over 50 years… if not 200 years old because it is more toward the voice I enjoy and gives my writing more of a feeling of timeless feeling.

So maybe I’m deluding myself, I dunno, but I’m having fun doing it so… thppt.

Anyhoo… this is what’s been happening. The new chapters with current names go as follows:

40. Oaths, Threats & Honor

41. A Racket in the Treetops

42. Placing a Bit in the Mouth of the Wild (Its new location which fixes a timeline issue)

43. Quid Pro Quo

Chapter 38 has been re-titled to “Fracturing the Keystone”.

Current Stats:

Pages

306

Words

98923

I think this is going to break 450 pages and 150k words. But we shall see.

Oh… by the way…

And in another case of guilt inspired “you haven’t been posting much lately” fun, here’s another teaser from the chapter 18. “Missing Passengers”. Enjoy! (As always, it’s the first draft so… don’t worry. This is like a construction site, and you’re seeing the foundation and rough framing laid. Beware of random nails. ;c)

“Solveig? Mirjam?” she called softly. “Are you awake?”

No answer came.

She knocked again, louder.

The door to her stateroom opened and the Minister of the Wardrobe peaked out.

“Ah! Have you seen the Kronadottirs?” the Visedronning asked.

“No, my Tign. I have not seen them.”

“Did you check their stateroom when you came on board?”

“Jah, my Tign, directly after making sure everything was in order for yours. No one was there.”

“Perhaps they arrived after you did.”

“It is possible, but unlikely for I arrived very shortly before you did and did not see them on the pier nor in my inspection of the ship, my Tign.”

The Visedronning frowned, and opened the door to her daughter’s stateroom while knocking.

“Solveig? Mirjam?”

The room was empty. In fact, there was no evidence that they had ever been there. The beds were empty and still made. She opened the wardrobe and found their clothing still there.

“The wardrobe was empty when I arrived, so I had the servants quickly fill it with any appropriate changes they might need for the cruise, my Tign,” the minister replied before she could even ask the question. The concern was quickly rising.

“I watched them go to the ship, so they must be on board. “Oh this must be Mirjam’s idea of a joke,” she said her brow furrowing as the words left her mouth. It would be just like that girl to play games on an important day like this, but why would Solveig agree to such a prank? She was never like this before.

“Search the ship. Quietly and report back to me here. Do not enlist anyone else.”

“Immediately, my Tign!” the Minister said and vanished. He did not run, but seemed to glide rapidly down the hall with a poise most women would be jealous of.

The Visedronning sat on the bed and looked around the room. For now, it was a rest from having to deal with drunken guests she must humor for the moment. Solveig did look ill after all. But why were they both missing? She rose and opened the dressing table’s jewelry box. Everything was there. But the cosmetics box was empty. That was odd. Her daughters always kept some minor essentials there in case of emergencies. All of it was gone, but the jewelry stayed behind.

A soft knock was heard on the door and it opened.

“The Minister said you were in here,” Gregor said as he entered in and closed the door without a sound.

“Jah, and I am taking a moment to get away from the throng.”

“I was able to do the same thanks to the message you sent.”

“I did not send one.”

“Then he must have seen the look on my face and provided me an excuse to get away from that sweaty pack of panderers. I wonder what it is like to have a friend that does not expect to get something from you?” The Visekonge wondered out loud. His wife smiled and walked over to him, draped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a quick intimate kiss.

“Well, I want nothing more from you, so you always have me.”

“Ahhh…” Gregor smiled at her. “A sated wife is a blessing indeed.” He embraced her lovingly.

“Why are we in here other than to escape that herd of steaming social animals?”

“Mirjam is playing one of her tricks again. I swear to you, my Tign, she will be the death of me some day.”

“But where is Solveig then?”

“I have not the faintest. Dare I even suspect Mirjam finally started enlisting her help in her pranks?”

“Marianne, you know she loves it when you react so strongly. This time, let us try to ignore what plot she has in mind and make the best of it. She will come out sooner or later and expect a big fuss over her jest. If we give it to her, she will have succeeded.” Gregor soothed. Mirjam’s pranks were something that always tickled his fancy, but had to keep secret lest his marriage became a lot more combative and his willful daughter turn her cleverness on him and drive him to distraction too.

Marianne sighed at the wisdom of her husband, but inside, she roiled at not punishing her daughter with something appropriate.

“I will try, my love. Particularly with the politics what they are.”

“That is my little sapphire,” he said and kissed her on the forehead making her smile.

A quickie glossary

Visedronning – The Vice Queen. Highest title for a woman in Akiniwazi. Married to the Visekonge (Vice King).

Like this:

This is the second volume in the Akiniwazi Saga.
Volumes 1-3 can be found in Book One.

After surviving the storm, Reimar and Brother Finn have terrifying new problems. They are stuck on an isolated island named “No Hope Rock”. The children are turning on each other, an assassin with the power to raise the dead is hunting Brother Finn, and a manitou desires to possess Reimar!

Aided by Herr Aske, a master timberjack, and the mysterious Daniel, the four must unite to stop the evil plans opposing them before it’s too late. Can they get off the island with their minds and souls intact?

Like this:

No seriously. They are such a pain to write. How do you give proper attention to characters when you are stuck with scenes that require seven or more to be participating?! Ugh! This is the challenge I’ve been having with my writing. From my GM-Brain, I just want to follow the plot, but without meaning and character development, it’s worthless, and so many characters need to be addressed.

There are times I think back to books like “The Stand” where King created himself a cast of what? A dozen to follow? I mean how do you write the scene of the meeting of the Boulder Free Zone Committee without going insane or leaving someone out of the mix? He did it, and did it well. I feel like a fumbling poseur. Yes, yes… I know that is endemic among writers. Possibly a pandemic of impostor syndrome. Doesn’t change the fact I feel it.

At least I can say it’s moving forward though, despite getting ready to add an eighth member to the party. So what sounds more medieval for a group of travelers? Party, Band, Group, team? Blarg… do I just throw it in the mixmaster and hit frappe?

Plus how do you handle a secret romantic subplot in the midst of it? Lament lament lament. anyhooo… new chapter titles that are done… and not necessarily in order because I may have to rearrange some of them for better flow and suspense.

#? Placing a Bit in the Mouth of the Wild (will be moving)

31. Beyond the Bounds of Law

32. Planning the Coronation (may have to move)

33. Under a Lowering Sky

34. Like Sheep To Uncertain Pasture

35. The Last Farmhold

36. Where A Clandestine Rendezvous Occurs

37. Ascending For Primae

38. Brother Finn Risks His Neck (probable re-title)

39. Palliative Heat & An Ancient Terror (probable re-title)

On a positive note, the direction this part of the plot has come over the horizon, and weeks of contemplation, worry and irritation are now being put on the page. Unfortunately, it has revealed another issue that will have to wait till the second draft to address. More on that in a later post. I will be summoning my clutch of alpha readers, for a private discussion on the topic of culture and weighing authenticity versus modern fantasy sensibilities. Yes, the two are suddenly in conflict.

But if you would like to opine on the subject, I shall ask the hypothetical. If you were reading a historical fantasy book and came across an old custom that was socially distasteful in modern terms (compared to even as far back as Victorian terms) would you prefer the authenticity, or would you rather it be written around as too distracting. Mind you I’m not talking something totally reprehensible, but we’re talking moderate social taboos.